After coming out of the roller coaster ride, we wandered right into the Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage show, which was just about to begin. The show doesn't seem to have changed much through the years, but it is still an enjoyable retelling of the classic animated Disney movie and a joy to watch.

After dinner we headed across the park to the Backlot Express so that I could get the holiday Donald Duck Christmas Tree sipper. While we were there we decided to find a table and enjoy the lunches that we packed for the day. It was a nice opportunity to sit and talk to the girls.

Once we were all full from dinner, we trekked across the park to the Animation Courtyard to visit the Star Wars Launch Bay, where we got the opportunity to meet BB-8, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. This was something that we've never done before, which was cool, and Chewbacca was especially playful! Sam and I would definitely enjoy the opportunity to explore this area further, checking out some of the Star Wars art and displays that we didn't have time to explore today.

Once we wrapped up our meet and greet, we split up - the girls got in line at the popcorn cart for the newest Christmas bucket, while I headed over to the ABC Commissary to pick up another sipper for my cousin. When these tasks were completed, we headed out to the car to try to get to Epcot in time to get into the queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which Sam has yet to ride and Jay and I both enjoy...

With the Guardians out of the picture, we decided to head over to World Nature to show Samantha the new Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana attraction. Sam really got a kick out of it, and Jay and I enjoyed ourselves as well. While we were in World Nature, we headed over to check out the Turtle Talk with Crush show. It was an enjoyable show, but the kids they picked out of the audience to question were on vacation from Mexico and didn't speak much English, so it was a bit of a dud conversation. Once the show was over we wandered around SeaBase to check out the manatees and dolphins (among other sea creatures).

We tried to go see the Soarin' Over California version that was taking place at the Soarin' experience, but it was a 90 minute wait and we just didn't feel like waiting that long.

We headed off to World Showcase to grab dinner at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop. This is definitely one of my favorite places to eat in the parks, as the fish is good and they serve the best fries I've had in any of the parks to date! Once we were done, we decided to continue to explore the various countries a little deeper, something that we rarely actually do. We decided to start our exploration in Mexico, so that I could show Sam La Cava de Tequila, a neat little bar tucked inside that I never even knew existed until the last time that Tara and I visited. From there we headed over to China, where we wandered the shops and bought some Chinese candy to try out (the girls weren't impressed - I figured if they didn't like it there was no sense in me even trying!). It began to rain while we were here, but it didn't stay heavy for long, so we headed out to continue our trek. We wandered through the shops in Italy and Japan (again, trying out some Japanese candies) before heading over to France. We wandered back inside to the Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie, where we bought "dessert" to take home with us. While in France, we decided to see the Beauty and the Best Sing-Along show, which was made all the more enjoyable by a guest who took his singing very seriously in a fun and playful way. Sometimes the guests make the entire show better!

At this point it was dark and we were getting tired, so we decided to call it a night. We made the drive back home without incident, and sent Sam on her way home to Derek and Koda.

Thank you girls for spending the day with me! It was a great experience, and one I will never forget. I love you two!